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OF MICHIGAN, 



DELIVERED DECEMBER 22, 1847. 



PRINTED BY HARHHA & WILLCOX, 



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AI ADDEESS 



DELIVERED BEFORE 



THE NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN, 



DECEMBER 22, 1847. 



BY HON. WILLIAM WOODBRIDGE. 
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^Detroit: 

PRINTED BY HARSHA & WILLCOX, No. 50,'jEFFERSON AVENUE, 
1849. 



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NOTE. — The Executive Committee of the Wew England Society of Michigan, 
l)eing instructed by the society to request of Gov. Woodbridge a copy of his Ad- 
dress delivered before them, for publication, received in reply to the note which 
they addressed liim, the copy requested, with the following letter : 

Springwells, near Detroit, January 6, 1849. 
To Messrs. J. M. Howard, E. Farnsworth, W. A. Raymond, John Chester and 
W. A. Bacon, Ex. Com. <fec. Ac. 
Gentlemen, Your note of the date of the 26th ult., requesting a copy of the 
address which I deUvered at the anniversary meeting of the " New England " So- 
ciety in Dec. 1847, has been received: and in pursuance of the request contained 
in it, I have the honovu- herewith to transmit it. A slight examination of the 
manuscript, will show, that it Mis entirely short of the plan indicated in it ; leav- 
ing mitouched many topics, a review of which, was manifestly contemplated, but 
which could not have been accomplished, without making the address offensively' 
long. This imperfection was sought, in part, to be remedied, in an address subse- 
quently delivered before the " Detroit Young men's " Society. And the fact is 
alluded to here, in the hope, that an apology may be found in it, for the manifest 
incompleteness of the manuscript now transmitted. 

Be pleased Gentlemen, to accept for yourselves, my acknowledgments for the- 
courteous terms in which you have been pleased to make known to me the wishes 
of the Society : — and believe me to be 

Very respectfully 

Tour obedient servant, 

WILLIAM WOODBRIDGE. 

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a 3 



ADDRESS. 



Gentlemkn of the " New England Societv." 

A stranger to the details of our early history would be very natural- 
ly tempted to inquire, tchy such an association as this, has been formed ? 
If it be to celebrate the landing of a small band of adventurers, upon 
the cold and cheerless shores of New England, some two hundred 
years or more ago; why thrs distinguish the event from other mi- 
orations of more recent times ? /Was it that in cliaracter, in purposes, 
or in circumstances, they were so unhke ?, Xfhat manner of men then 
tcere they -whose arrival on a newly discovered continent, we would 
thus commemorate ? what was there, peculiar, in the circumstances 
out of which, their expedition grew ? and what very extraordinary 
consequences, have resulted from their bold and perilous adventure ? 

These, Gentlemen, are questions, a stranger may well put; but 
which the occasion does not require me here to dwell upon. I am 
addressing sons of New England : I am addressing those, who are 
familiar with the prohfic story of the " Pilgrim Fathers ! " Those who 
have heard of the exemplary piety of those dauntless christians ; and of 
their high intellectual and moral worth : who have learned something 
of their character, of their purposes ; of the wrongs practised upon 
them ; of their perils and sufferings ; and of their indomitable courage. 
The copious annals of New England, to which I must presume you 
have had access ; will have informed you of their history in graphic 
detail ; and of the subsequent and eventful story of their true hearted 
descendents ; down to the period, Avhen the relations that bound them 
to the mother country were merged, dissolved, lost forever, in blood ! 
You will not expect nor desire, that in the brief remarks, to which 
the propriety of the occasion seems to limit me, I should place in re- 
view before you many details illustrative of the topics, to which those 



ADDRESS. 



questions point; nor attempt to group together, in a connected series, 
even all those leading events, which mark the trials, the struggles and 
the progress, of the eariy Colonists of our "Father-Land ! " 

But there arc circumstances, having relation to the general subject, 
which from their peculiarity^ although known, may yet bear repetition : 
and there are incidents too, scattered here and there, upon the records 
of time, which, in so far as they may tend to display the character, 
and vindicate more fully the purposes, the principles, and the institu- 
tions of the Founders of New England ; it may be profitable for us to 
contemplate, with renewed attention : for those purposes, principles 
and institutions, casting their influences into the future, have, in a o-reat 
degree, given character to the actual condition of society amoncr us ; 
and impressed deeply upon the foundations of our onward destiny, 
bold lineaments of that well regulated political Freedom, all profess 
to admire. To some of these incidents and circumstances, I desire to 
advert: and propose to limit the few discursive remarks, which it may 
remain for me to make, to that, more humble purpose. 

It was in the month of November 1620, that the May-Flower, with 
its care worn colonists, approached a part of the New Continent, then 
utterly unknown to them, and far north of their intended point of de- 
barcation. From that intended point, the weather-beaten vessel, had 
been intentionally and widely diverted, as Historians assert, by the 
treachery and the bribery of the mercenary captain. The devoted pil- 
grims then saw before them, not the country which had been described 
to them ; nor that which their imaginations had depicted ; but the 
bleak, the unexplored, the repulsive and broken coasts of that which is 
New England now. Storms had arisen ; the cold was piercing, the 
harbour was too shallow for their vessel to approach the shore ; all 
were strangers to the inhospitable coast ! It was not until the 22nd 
of December of the same year, that through fearful perils, and extreme 
suffering, they eftected a landing upon that "Plymouth Rock," to 
which, all uncoiiscious, their landing was destined, in aftertimes, to o-ive 
so much celebrity ! The event constitutes indeed, an Ejjoch which no 
future historian will pass over in silence : an epoch, which the philoso- 
phic statesman, will not fail to contemplate, when, as from a hio-h 
eminence, he looks upon the past, and upon the present ; and traces, 
far into the future, the workings of those moral and political causes. 



ADDRESS. 5 

wliich had their humble origin there ! An epoch, which has furnished, 
and will again and again furnish to the patriot, ample materials, for 
whatever is admonitory in the past, and cheering in the future : and 
for whatsoever is eloquent, and captivating, and powerful, in the oratory 
which he wields ! an epoch which the accomplished statuary has al- 
ready signalized ; and which the painter has made the subject of the 
most unique and touching, and beautiful, of all the magnificent paint- 
ings, which Genius and Skill, have so appropriately adorned the panels 
of the national Capitol ! 

Influenced by the high consideration in which these Founders of 
New England are now, with one accord, and confessedly holden by all; 
the inquisitive stranger, will seek to ea^iere some knowledge of their 
early history : His attention will be at once arrested hj the disclo- 
sure of the smallness of their numbers, and the paucity of their means, 
when compared with the obstacles to be surmounted, and the great 
purposes they had in view. Historians inform us, that their whole 
number, comprehending men, women and children, did not exceed one 
hundred and one ; and that their means, aided by a fair, but moderate 
amount of wealth ; consisted, in their distinguished intelligence, and 
well balanced minds ; in their stoutness of hear[*, and firmness of pur- 
pose ; and in that trust in the protection qf Providence, which had 
never before, in any exigency, deserted them ! The work before them, 
was to sit down, by the side of the wild and ferocious savages of that 
wilderness ; and by their purchased, or enforced consent, to found 
there, a distinct community, a nev) Empire ! So obviously inadequate 
to the end, will such numbers and such means, appear to him; that he 
will surely be led to doubt of the fideUtij of the annalist : He will 
strongly suspect, that other causes impelled them ! Did they, indeed, 
voluntarily leave the cultivated fields and the peaceful firesides of their 
Fathers, in order, Avith such numbers, and with such means, to give 
effect to a project so bold, so manifestly visionary ? were they not 
rather, oiit casts from the society in which they W(r3 reared ; and exi- 
led, by the Justice of the violated Law ? or, were thej' of disordered 
intellects, wild enthusiasts, spurning the reasonable counsels of ordinary 
prudence : mere monomaniacs ? Posteiity, Gentlemen, will not judge 
so harshly of them! Driven, they may have been, from the country 
of their birth ; but, it was by the tyrannical oppressions, of the House 



of Stuart ! They came, not from the chambers of the guilty, nor from 
the redundant outpourings of the Poor House ; nor yet, from the Lu- 
natic Asylums of the mother country ! But, emanating from the 
iartuous, and the most enlightened of the distracted community which 
they left ; and where their sympathies still lingered ; they came, to 
form a community of their own : They came that they might secure 
to themselves and to their posterity, the blessings of wise and happy 
institutions: They came, that they might lay, broad and deep the 
foundations of that enlightened, virtuous, and well ordered freedom, 
which they loved ; or else, and if it should be so directed by the over- 
ruling Providence of the God Avhom they adored, that they might 
sufter, and die martyrs, in so holy a cause ! It was in truth the crovminff 
effort, of men, who spurnmc/ the arrogant dictation of the minions of an 
arbitrary monarch, had determined, having weighed a^^ consequences, 
thus to remove themselves beyond the reach of a power, so intolerant ; 
and of machinations so ignoble and debasing ! 

Nor did this small band of Pilgrims, stand so entirely alone, in the 
principles they avouched and in the resolutions they had formed, as 
may be imagined : The sympathies of the great body of their country- 
men were with them : and there appears no doubt, but that thousands ; 
speaking the same langu^e, the descendants of a common ancestry, 
and standing by the same religious and political faith ; had resolved 
to incur the same hazards, to submit to the same sacrifices, and to 
share the same destiny, that should await their brothers in the new 
world! If these promised co-adjutors, had been permitted to execute 
their settled purpose, and thus to have added so greatly to the moral 
and physical strength of the colonists, while in the very crisis of their 
affairs ; who would have deemed their project, an idle fancy.? or that 
its final success, was involved in so much doubt ? But, their country- 
men were not 2^ermitted to execute their purpose. Some relief indeed, 
had been extended to the colonists ; and accessions to their numbers 
had been made, during the first and'sicead succeeding years, after 
their arrival. But these shipments were made, principally it is be- 
lieved, in vessels sailing direct from Holland ; or other parts of the 
continent, where many of their coinitrymen had found temporary 
refuge, preparatory to their final cmbarcation. In the mean time, the 
first Charles had succeeded to the throne of his father. It is not my 



ADDRESS. 



purpose to dwell upon the vices, or the foibles of this unhappy Prince : 
If they were numerous, or great ; they were expiated upon the scaf- 
fold ! But I may be permitted to say, that he was educated to believe, 
that his authority was above the Laiv, and absolute ! That there was 
m limit to the power of the crown, but the ivill of the reigning monarch ! 
That private property, personal liberty, the opinions even, of his peo- 
ple, were all subjects of his rightful control! He sought to rule 
without Parliaments : He sought to levy and collect taxes, by his OAvn, 
unsanctioned authority : There never was a period perhaps, when the 
liberties of England, were in so imminent danger ! At such a period ; 
when nothing but debasing slavery, both political and religious, on the 
one hand ; or, fearful revolutions, and a civil war of uncertain duration 
and of doubtful success, on the other ; were pending over their ill-fated 
country ; multitudes of its people, were seeking in voluntary exile, 
that quietude and freedom, which seemed forever denied to them at 
home. New settlements were formed in Massachusetts, in Connecti- 
cut, and elsewhere ; and that of New Plymouth, greatly strengthened 
and increased : while every indication promised a rapid and a happy 
growth to them all ! It was in this condition of things, that the capri- 
cious and infatuated monarch, pursuing the mad and fitful counsels of 
his demented advisers; expressly and without law, inhibited the fur- 
ther migration of his subjects to New England. Alluding to this 
pregnant fact, Hume, the eloquent historian, but the apologist of the 
House of Stuart, and the powerful advocate of arbitrary government ; 
thus expresses himself : "The Puritans, restrained in England, shipped 
" themselves off to America ; and laid there the foundations of a govern- 
"ment, which possessed all the liberty, both civil and religious, of which 
"they found themselves bereaved in their native country. But their 
"enemies, unwilhng that they should anyivhere enjoy ease and content- 
"ment, and dreading perhaps, the dangerous consequences of so disaf- 
"fected a colony, prevailed on the King to issue a proclamation, 
"debarring these devotees access, even into those inhospitable deserts. 
"Eight ships, lying in the Thames, and ready to sail, were detained 
" by order of the Council : and in these, were embarked, among others, 
"Sir Arthur Hazelrig, John Hempden, John Pym, and Ohver Crom- 
"well, who had resolved, forever to abandon their native country, and 
*'% to the other extremity of the Globe; where they might enjoy 



" Lectures and Discourses, of any length or form, which pleased them." 
He then adds the very significant remark, that the " King had after- 
" wards full leisure to repent, this exercise of his authority ! " It con- 
stitutes no part of rny purpose. Gentlemen, to detain you. by elaborate 
comments upon the lives or qualities of these eminently great men : 
Yet some reference to them seems called for by the connection in 
which they are named by the historian ; and especially by the charac- 
ter which they reflect, upon those companions v/hom they wished to 
join. What space they ivould have occupied, iu the history of the 
times, if, with their numerous associates, they had not been thwarted 
in their peaceful and legitimate purpose, of uniting themselves, with 
their friends of the "Plymouth Rock,"may be left to conjecture : But 
that in their respective spheres, they afterwards, exerted a most con- 
trollinr/ influence, in the affairs of the nation, at home, is abundantly 
established. Their associations had always been, with the Patriot 
Party. Being forcibly shut out, from that asylum in the new world 
they had sought ; and being men of easy fortunes, they appear after- 
wards, to have devoted themselves, more exclusively to public affairs : 
and it is not unreasonable 'to suppose, that on their return to public 
life, they may have taken with them, more of bitterness against the 
court, by reason of their sense of the high handed injustice which had 
been practiced upon them. Of Mr. Pym, I think it may be truly said, 
that the sincerity of his professions, was never brought into doubt. 
Uniformly opposed to the high pretentions, and arbitrary measures of 
the court ; English Liberty, had not, in those times of commotion and 
peril, a more constant, sagacious, and successful vindicator in Parlia- 
ment, than John Pym. Immediately after his premeditated exile was 
prevented in the manner related ; his name appears, associated with 
that constellation of great men, members of the House of Commons, 
who, in those troublous times, fashioned the course, and controlled the 
counsels of that House, in Avhich was embodied, the concentrated and 
terrific power of the Commons of England. For many years, he con- 
tinued there, faithful to the high trusts confided to him, a distinguished 
member. Neither the allurements of the court ; nor fear of its vin- 
dictive power ; nor the fitful and intemperate zeal, which occasionally 
marked the course of the Commons, could ever disarm his vigilance ; 



ADDRESS. 9 

or despoil him of his patriotism, and of his cool calcultiting sagacity ! 
He was a man "of large discom-se, looking before and after." 

Of John Hampden, I do not know how to speak, lest on the one 
hand, I should fail to render that ample tribute of commendation to 
the history and character of so eminently great and good a man, which 
is so justly due ; or on the other, lest I should offend against your 
patience, and, unwittingly, draw too largely upon your indulgent atten- 
tion. Seeking to avoid these difficulties on either hand ; I propose 
then, gentlemen, simply to solicit your consideration of a few com- 
ments, upon his course and character, made by the same eloquent 
historian, to whom I have already referred : being quite well aware, 
that even the meager jjraise, of a Avriter whose sympathies were so no- 
toriously with the House of Stuart, Avhen bestowed upon one of the 
most formidable opponents of its encroachments upon the public liber- 
ties, is intitled to 2J(culiar tveir/ht. Mr. Hume says that "This year 
(1637, or some time after his intended voyage to New England, was 
so inconsiderately arrested ;) "John Hampden acquired by his spirit 
"and courage, universal popularity, throughout the nation; and has 
"merited great renown with posterity, for the bold stand which he 
" made, in defense of the laws and liberties of his country. After the 
"imposing of ship money, Charles, in order to discourage all opposi- 
"tion, had proposed this question to the Judges : "Whether in case of 
"necessity, for the defense of the Kingdom; he might not impose this 
"taxation ; and whether he were not the sole judge of the necessity ?" 
" These Guardians of law and liberty, replied, with great complaisance, 
" that in case of necessity, he might impose that taxation ; and that he 
" was sole judge of the necessity." Hampden had been rated at twenty 
"shillings, for an estate which he possessed in Buckingham: yet not- 
" withstanding this declared opinion of the Judges, notwithstanding the 
"great power, and sometimes rigorous maxims of the crown ; notwith- 
" standing the small prospect of relief from Parliament ; he resolved, 
" rather than tamely submit to so illegal an imposition, to stand a legal 
" prosecution, and expose himself to all the indignation of the Court. 
" The case was argued during twelve days, in the Exchequer Chamber, 
" before all the Judges of England ; and the nation regarded with the 
'* utmost anxiety, every circumstance of this celebrated trial. The 

^ event was easily foreseen : but the principles and reasonings, and 
2 



1 ADDRESS. 

" behavour of the parties engaged in this trial, were much canvassed 
" and inquired into ; and nothing could equal the favour paid to the 
" one side, except the hatred which attended the other." The preju- 
diced Judges, four excepted, gave sentence in favoiir of the crown. 
But Hampden, (Mr Hume proceeds to say ;) obtained by the trial, the 
" end for which he had so generously sacrificed his safety and his quiet : 
" the people were roused from their lethargy, and became sensible of 
"the danger to Avhich their liberties were exposed, &c, " (3. Hume 
414. 416.) In the civil war which afterwards ensued, Hampden was 
wounded in battle ; and died of his wound. Hume thus sums up his 
character : " Many Avere the virtues and talents of this eminent per- 
" sonasre ; and his valour during the war, had shown out with a lustre 
"equal to that of the other accomplishments, by which he had been 
" distinguished. Affability in conversation ; temper, art and eloquence 
" in debate ; penetration and discernment in counsel ; industry, vigi- 
"lence and enterpiise inaction; all these praises are unanimously 
" ascribed to him, by Historians of the most opposite parties. His 
" virtues too and integrity, in all the duties of private life, are al- 
" lowed to have been beyond exception ; hut we must only be cautious 
" notwithstandinff his generous zeal for liberty, not hastily to ascribe to 
" him, the praises of a good Citizen." Thus, and with this insidious 
caution to his readers, Mr. Hume sums up the merits and character of 
this high spirited and devoted Patriot ! 

The history of Oliver Cromwell, is written in characters too broad, 
and deep, and is too well known, to justify, at my hands, more than a 
passing remark. The faculties, and the quahties of men, are, some- 
times of early, perhaps precocious growth : Sometimes, they come 
more tardily to maturity : and in many cases, probably, remain in rest 
or dormant, until, with their unconscious possessor, they pass, never 
fully disclosed, to the grave ! Man, whether viewed individually, or 
in communities, seems, under the ProAHidcnce of God, wonderfully the 
creature of circumstance. Great crises, in the affairs of men, or of na- 
tions, stimulate, strengthen, seem to create, great faculties, and great 
qualities, suitable to, and commensurate with the occasion ! Thus, 
the great events of our own Revolution, acting powerfully upon the 
mind and the heart, of the whole country, elicited, and brought into 
vigorous action, a degree and a variety of ability, and of talent, moral 



ADDRESS. 1 1 

and intellectual, which in no age or country, have ever been surpassed ; 
and which, but for the crisis which produced them, would never have 
been exhibited to our admiration ! The correctness of this vein of 
thought, is I think plainly demonstrated in the life and history of 
Oliver Cromwell. He had been a member of the House of Commons 
eight or ten years, before his intended embarcation for America. In 
all that period, he had acquired little or no distinction : He is spo- 
ken of indeed by historians, as being then, a man •' of no account ! " 
The extraordinary faculties he possessed, and of which he was himself 
probably long unconscious ; do not seem to have been fully developed 
until the very foundations of the monarchy, had been broken up ; and 
the nation, hurried into all the horrors of civil war ! 

Whether he were ever sincere, in his habitual and lofty pretentions 
of sanctity, and devotedness to the coiHase of free government, has, I 
am aware, long ago, been brought into doubt. Having no very fixed 
opinion on that point myself, I am nevertheless inclined to the belief, 
that, in the beginning, he was sincere : for if he were not, what motives 
could have led him to retire from the busy scenes of active hfe, which 
were fast opening before him at home and in which he afterwards 
took so distinguished a part? Why should he attempt, as unques- 
tionably he did attempt ; to join the free, the peaceful and the devout 
colonists of New England ; and with such associates, to bury all hopes 
of distinction, all the glittering promises of ambition, in the silent and 
secluded depths, of that wilderness ? But his great abilities, gradually 
developed themselves, and became more strongly marked: In the 
progress of time, and of events, he became more conscious of his own 
enlarged and grasping capacity : and* however sincere in the beginning 
he may have been ; his ardour in the cause of political and religious 
freedom, gradually merged, in the more absorbing pursuits of his per- 
sonal ambition. In any view of it however, his case furnishes an 
imposing illustration of the danger of vesting, unrestricted and discre- 
tionary powers, in the hands of a favorite Party-Leader, in a popular 
cause ! He commenced his public career, with many professions of 
patriotism : He succeeded in obtaining the full confidence of his par- 
ty : as his faculties, by slow degrees acquired fixedness of character, 
he was esteemed sagacious, and farseeing in council beyond most men ; 
and in the battle-field, he was without a rival. He had some good 



] 2 ADDRESS. 

qualities : But he died a Despot : he left a story, Avritten in blood ! 
It is fit for us to Aveigh it well ; and to remember, that the warnings of 
history, can never, never, with impunity, be despised ! 

But it is time this digression were finished : The characters and 
the purposes of men may sometimes be judged of by those of their 
associates : It is in that view, I have asked your consideration of 
these historical data. The Pilgrim Fathers could not be exempt from 
the ordinary evils, which afflict society. Detraction followed them : 
Their motives have been impugned ; their characters assailed ; and 
derision and silly ridicule, sought to be cast upon them, and upon 
their descendants. And it has seemed to me that no vindication of 
their motives, can be more appropriate than such as may be found, in 
the nature of the government from Avhich they Avithdrew themselves ; 
the odious persecutions to Avhich that Government subjected them; 
the rapid and appalling adA^ances it AA'as making toAA^ards uncontrolled 
and arbitrary power : and especially in a full xmderstanding of the 
moral, intellectual and political quaUties and propensities, Avhich dis- 
tinguished their intimate friends, those, Avith Avhom their sympathies 
and connections Avere ! and it has been to this end, that I have asked 
your consideration of the condition of things, in the country Avhich 
thev left : and of the kind of men, Avith whom alone all their associa- 
tions were : for, of the same ganius of the same race, of intellectual, 
resolute, pious and devoted Patriots and Christians, were the Pilgrim 
Fathers of New England ! But, they were then called " Puritans ; " 
and in much later times, the same term, has been sneeringhj applied to 
them ; as if it Avere a term of contempt and reproach ; implying igno- 
rance and fanaticism ! 

Certainly the first settlers of New England, Avere of that portion 
of the people of their native country, who were denominated " Puri- 
tans. " But tvho were intended by that general appellative ? In its 
origin, the term Avas used to designate the Calvinists of Great Britain, 
in contradistinction to those of the established Church: and they 
came to be called " Puritans, " from their attempting a purer form of 
worship and discipline, than that prescribed by the English Hierarchy. 
But, in the progress of time, and of events, it ceased to be restricted to 
a mere religious sect ; and came to be applied in a far more compre- 
hensive sense. Thus, the learned and accomplished compiler of a 



ADDRESS. 13 

well known standard work ; referring to sundry authorities ; affirms 
that "all were "Puritans" in the estimation of King James, who 
" adhered to the laws of the land, in opposition to his arbitrary govem- 
" ment, though ever so good Churchmen. These, were called " Puri- 
" tans in the State ; " and those who scrupled the ceremonies, and 
" adhered to the doctrines of Calvin, were " Church Puritans ; " who 
"though comparatively few, yet, being joined by those of the other 
" class, became the majority of the nation. " And Mr. Hume, who, it 
will be remembered, Avas not more the advocate of arbitrary power, 
than he was a scoffer of Christianity, sustains the general fact assumed 
by Doc. Rees. Speaking of the transactions of 1628, he says, "Amidst 
" the complication of disputes, in which men were then involved, we 
"may observe that the appellation "puritan" stood for three parties; 
" which though commonly united, were yet actuated by very different 
"views and motives. These were the political Puritans, who main- 
" tained the hi(ihe?,t principles of civil liber ti/ ; the puiitans in discij.line, 
" and the doctrinal puritans. In opposition to all these, stood the 
" Court Party, &c." (3. Hume, 390.) On a previous page, and speak- 
ing of the occurrences of an antecedent period ; he says, " For it is re- 
" markable that this Party, (the Puritans ;) made the privileges of the 
" nation, as much a part of their religion, as the Church Party did, 
" the prerogatives of the Crown, &c. " (3. Hume, 345.) The Puritans 
then, the amalgamated party, were those who contended for a broader, 
and a better defined rule of religious and civil liberty : They were 
precisely such as Pym and Hampden, and Hazel rig and Vane ; and a 
thousand others of those master spirits; of those great and extraordi- 
nary men, who, produced by the crisis, and equal to the crisis, at 
length, and at the expense no doubt, of many indefensible excesses ; 
prostrated the arbitrary government of the House of Stuart; and 
planted deep in the public mind, those vigorous principles of manly 
freedom, which reaching far beyond the temporary Protectorate of 
Cromwell, occasioned the revolution of 1688; and changed the future 
destinies of that great People ! Such then I repeat, were the " Puri- 
tans ; " such the companions, of the Pilgrim Fathers ; and such the 
objects of their convulsive struggles ! But, before one ray of bright' 
ness, had gilded the horizon of the Patriot at home ; while all was 
gloom and darkness, and fearful oppression there, the men of the " Ply- 



14 ADDRESS. 

mouth Rock, " had already left the land of their Fathers ! They, had 
already gone into distant and inhospitable climes, in search of that 
peace and freedom, which seemed forever shut out from them at 
home ! It remains for us to see, how far and in what manner, these 
fugitives from oppression, remained true to their declared faith? 
How far, when securely established, in their wilderness domain, they 
sought to exhibit a practical demonstration, of the great principles of 
their avowed creed ? "When these wanderers found themselves taken 
to a coast, far distant from their intended destination ; when the priva- 
tions, and the exposures, and the sufferings of a voyage so greatly 
protracted, had wasted their strength and impaired their health ; when 
the winter storms, and unwonted severities of that icy shore, had over- 
taken, and threatened to overwhelm them ; they bravely struggled with 
their destiny and yet retained their trust in God ! Their self-poses- 
sion, and their hopes, did not desert them ! But yielding to a necessity 
which now became imperative ; and finding that they must look for 
their habitation there ; they calmly set about preparing a system of 
regulations, by which, their young and feeble colony should thence 
forward be governed. 

This system they drew in writing and severally signed, while all yet 
remained upon their frail Barque. By that instrument, they formed 
themselves into a " Body-Politic ; " and establishing a few organic 
rules, and anticipating the future necessity for further legislation; 
bound themselves, in the name of the God they worshipped, "to sub- 
" niit themselves to such laws and officers, a? should be judged most 
" subservient to the general good. " After the expiration of a few 
years ; when their population, and the number of their Towns, had 
very considerably increased ; it was found inconvenient for the whole 
body of the people to meet, for the passing of such laws as were neces- 
sary for their pio ection and ccmfort: Then by a supplemented com- 
pact, they enlarged their system, wisely adopting the principle of 
" Representation. " Their first General Assembly, organized upon 
this principle, was holden in 1639. An increased number of "as- 
sistants " elected annually, by the aggregate vote, appears to have 
constituted their " Council ; " and the different Towns, within the 
limits of the Colony, respectively elected and sent the prescribed 
n\miber of " Deputies. " With characteristic caution, the powers of 



ADDRESS. 15 

ordinary legistation, were limited ; and the great principles of public 
liberty abundantly secured, by a few organic regulations, contained in 
the new agreement, which they termed appropriately enough, the 
" General Fundamentals " of their system, and it is worthy of regard, 
that among those " Fundamentals, " was found incorporated, the bold 
and pregnant declaration that "no acts, laws nor ordinances, should be 
" imposed upon them, but such, as were enacted by the consent of the 
" body of the Freemen, or their Representatives regularly assembled." 
Thus, under a government founded solely on a voluntary compact, 
and purely republican in its character ; they effected a general peace 
with the surrounding barbarians ; secured the comfort and prosperity 
of their little colony ; and, continuing to increase greatly in population 
and in power; they enjoyed all the blessings of a wise and free 
government, during a succession of many years. 

In 1691, it was found expedient to gather, under one Colonial 
Government, the people of this Colony, together with all the various 
and detached colonies, which in the mean time, had grown up at Bos- 
ton, Salem and elsewhere, in those parts of New England. Then it 
was, that the name of "the colony of New Plymouth, " was merged 
in that of the venerated appellation of "The Massachusetts Bay.*' 
But establishments had been made also, and had grown into impor- 
tance, in other more remote parts of New England. Influenced by 
the successful example of their friends of the "Plymonth Rock, " mul- 
titudes of the most respected, because of the most upright and of the 
most enlightened, of the yeomanry c f Great Britain, with many of the 
most highly educated persons in the Kingdom, availed themselves of 
every fit opportunity, to escape from the degrading influences of 
threatened despotism at home ; or from its almost equally fatal alterna- 
tive, those convulsive disorders, which were rapidly hurling upon their 
country, all the desolating horrors of civil war! They looked \Ath. 
deep interest to the infant establishments of their countrymen in the 
New World : already identified with them in religious principles, and 
in their forms of worship ; they now resolved to participate with them 
also, in the anticipated blessings of their free, peaceful and liappy in- 
stitutions of civil government! This they fully effected. In 1635, 
the first settlement in Connecticut was commenced : some two or three 
years afterwards, a separate establishment was formed at New Haven : 



l^ ADDRESS. 

about the same time, the colony of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, was founded ; and anterior to -that time, settlers had 
domiciliaU'd themselves within the borders of New Hampshire. 

To review the progress of these several colonial establishments, Avith 
their multiplied ramifications, through all the trials and vicissitudes, to 
which they were subjected ; in peace, and in Avar ; from infancy, un- 
til, collectively, they had attained the fullness and the permanance of 
full grown maturity : to recite the perils of these early adventurers ; 
their constancy, their courage, their perseverence and especially their 
characteristic piety, and their devotedness to the cause of manly, but 
well regulated freedom ; all this, falls Avithin the appropriate proAdnce 
of the faithful historian. To analize, and to examine minutely the 
various or igi lal and admirable ini^titutions, which they established ; 
and to trace the prospcc^iA^e and extraordinary influences of those 
priraative institutions upon society, and upon the future character and 
happiness of their posterity ; this is a Avork for the closet and the 
study ; and sl.oald be reserved perhaps for a more deliberative occasion. 
To point out a feio of these institutions ; brieffy to consider their ten- 
dencies ; and to delineate some of the consequences which have 
resulted from them, is all I can at present, aspire to : and important 
indeed Avill be the result, if by doing so, I should conciliate towards 
them, the general attention ; and especially if I should thus, happily 
excite in your hearts gentlemen, a determination to make them the 
subjects of your own special research ; of your own more extended and 
philosophical consideration ! For I feel entirely persuaded, that no- 
thing, can more certainly fasten in our hearts, the elevated character, 
of those extraordinary men, than such a study, so pursued ! Nothing 
can so excite our veneration for their far reaching and Avonderful sa- 
gacity ; and nothing can bring into so bold relief, that expanded 
benevolence, Avhich, reaching far beyond the narrow cycle of their 
■own years upon earth ; looked forward, to the religious character, to 
the intellectual improvement, and to the enlightened freedom of their 
posterity, through the revolving periods of all future time ! And, de- 
scendents, as you are gentlemen, from the " Pilgrim Fathers ;" and the 
proper .guardians of their posthumous fame, to whom, if not to you, 
belongs, the merit the honour, the fiUal duty, of vindicating that fame, 
and aw^koning .o,\ir gxateful recognition of the multiplied and priceless 



ADDRESS. 17 

blessings, which, under the Providence of God, their labors have con- 
ferred upon us ? 

If then, in this spirit, and with such intent, you should be persuaded 
to explore this whole rnatter, and look into the ample store of rich 
blessings, our early ancestors have garnered up for us, your attention 
■will no doubt, be first arrested, by a consideration of that great and 
leading characteristic of their social organization, the strongly marked 
religious aspect and tendency of all their settled regulations. This 
constitutes too bold and prominent a feature, to escape the detection 
of the most careless observer. A strong religious feeling, a deep and 
chastened sense of responsibilty, and of dependence upon God, and a 
corresponding veneration for his character, pervade all their plans, 
and all their measures : and even in this slight review, I should hold 
myself highly censurable, if I were to pass over, without notice, this, 
the pervading spii it of the whole ! But any discussion on my part, 
of the relations which exist between man, in his individual capacity, 
and the Creator and Ruler of all things, however immeasurably im- 
portant these relations may be, to the individual happiness of man ; 
does not come within the scope I had on this occasion prescribed 
for myself. Such a theme, is for the minister of the gospel : for him 
whose fervid exhortations, and whose untiring and eloquent appeals, 
you, gentlemen, as true sons of New England, are, no doubt, accus- 
tomed to listen to, on every Sabbath. Passing by then, but with all 
becoming reverence, this branch of the subject ; my purpose is to so- 
licit your more particular attention, to the influences, which that 
spirit of piety and devotion, to which I have alluded, is certainly cal- 
culated to exert upon society ; upon men in their collective and aggre- 
gate character ; upon nations. The ignorant and the thoughtless, may 
sneer at the eminent piety of the early " Puritans ;" the buffoon, may 
make it the subject of his coarse and vulgar jest ! But let all such, 
;poinJt to the instance, if it can be found, either in sacred or profane 
history ; in which any nation has attained to eminence, and sustained 
itself in its elevation and prosperity ; whose people have not been 
distinguished, by a fervent piety, a pervading and deep sense of reli- 
gious feeling ? " Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to 
"political prosperity, religion and morality, are indispensable supports. 
" In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should 
3 



1 8 ADDRESS. 

•' labor to suhi'ert these great pillars of luxman happiness ; these firm- 
" est props of the duties of men, and citizens. The mere politician, 
"equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them_ 
"A volume could not trace all their connection, with private and pub- 
" lie felicity. Let it timply be asked lohcre is the security for pro- 
"perty, fo:- reputa ion, for life, if the sense of religious obligation, 
" desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in 
" couit; of justice ? And let us, with caution, indulge in the supposi- 
" ti n, that morality can be maintained, without religion. \Vhatever 
" may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of 
" jJccidiar structure ; rea:on and experience both forbid us to expect 
"that national morality, can prevail, in exclusion of religious piinci- 
"ples." Thus spake the man Avhose memory we all revere. Thus 
spoke the man, at whose feet, the shafts of contemptuous ridicule, 
always fell, harmless, and with broken point ! And if the propositions 
he advances be in themselves true, when applied to all foims of hu- 
man government, how much niore manifestly are they true, when 
applied to a government like ours, whose only basis is public opinion ; 
and whose strength, whose continuance, whose life giving principle, 
are, the virtue, the intelligence of its people ! 

And here, passing to another topic ; I desire again to i-efer for a 
moment, to the paternal injunctions of the same distinguished per- 
sonage ; of him, who never advised without wisdom ; and who never 
exhorted, but in the voice of patriotism ! In view of the powerful 
agency of public opinion, in all the operations of popular governments. 
General Washington thus admonishes the people of the United States; 
" Promote then, (he says) as an object of primary importance, institu- 
" tions for the general di fusion of knowledge. In proportion as the 
"structure of a government, gives force to public opinion, it is essential, 
" that public opinion should be enlightened !" Let us take pride to 
ourselves then gentlemen, that our sagacious, but quiet and unobtru- 
sive ancestors, "the puritan founders" of New England, had, nearly 
two hundred years before the Fureivell Address was written ; reduced 
those speculative, but undoubted truths, into a full and practical de- 
monstration ! P'or closely connected with their purpose to infuse, into 
the minds and hearts of those who should come after them, those 
principles of piety and religion which so eminently characterised 



ADDRESS. 19 

themselves, was their system of " common schools." Of inferior im- 
portance, in their estimation, only to their religious establishments ; 
so, next in the order of time, this subject engrossed their attention. 
Their plan was original ; or, if not original with them ; it was in New 
England only, that it was first carried into systematic operation ; as a 
distinct and elementary i^rinciple, of their social and political organi- 
ization. It was there, that its utility was first made manifest : it was 
there, that the great moral beauty of the system wasfuUy and 2}^'(tc- 
tically, ilkistrated ! But there, within the restrictive limits of the coun- 
try of its oi-igin, was this primitive, but most beneficent institution, 
destined to be confined, for a long, long course of years, unnoticed 
abroad, without imitation and without acknowledgement. 

Isolated in position, having very little connection, anterior to the 
period of our Revolution, Avith the inhabitants of the other British 
Colonies ; and very much cut off, from all intercourse with the rest 
of the world, except through the medium of a direct and limited trade 
with the mother country ; their institutions were but little known, 
and therefore, not justly appreciated. And there, without being made 
the subject, either of boasting or of noise ; amidst the rocky cliflFs, 
and green hills of New England; this fyitem has remained in full 
operation, bearing the test of a long u!ibroken experience, scattering 
its blessings, broad cast, among all classes of people, and growing 
more in the affection of its countless beneficiaries, every day ! But 
it was not fated, always to remain the undi\ided privilege, of the 
country of its origin. Thanks to the expanded benevolence, to the 
characteristic perseverence, to the " bigotry " if gentlemen loill have 
it so, of the "Puritans" of New England ; thanks, a thousand thanks, 
to the Danes and the Shermans, of our Father land, a scion was taken 
from that stock, and planted in the "Far- West:" and it took root 
there, and grew ! And when the teeming population of the " Ply- 
mouth Rock, " had spread over the surface of that country, in wliich 
its destinies had first been cast ; and its superabundant numbers, were 
seeking more space, a finer soil, and a more genial climate, in the 
primative Forests of the " Great valley ; each carried with him, the 
habits and the predilections of hi< fathers : and each, as he arrived in 
the chosen country of his new habitation, aided con amore in the pro- 
tection, in the growth and in the expansion of the embryo system. 



20 ADDRESS. 

New England Councils, had happihj planted there ! /?iow, it is deeply 
imbedded among its most favored organic institutions. Its vigorous 
shoots, with richer promise for the future ; are already beginning to shed 
abroad, throughout the boundless west, their copious and benignant 
fruit ! nor has it grown, when transplanted, like some exotics, with a 
penurious and a stinted growth, for, in the west, too, it is now basking 
in the genial warmth, of the public favour ! It is fitted indeed, to any 
latitude, to any climate : and so, as it preserv^ its oi iginal stamina, and 
the great outlines of its dimensions, it may be increased even, in its utili- 
ty, and in its beauty, in the very process of its adaptation, to the varied 
circumstances of its new location. Thus, here, in our own neAv state, a 
state, as it a\ e e of yesterday, provision is made in the organic Law, not 
only for its establishment, upon a comprehensive and well adjusted 
plan, but, asauxiliary to its great purpose, it is also ordained, that there 
shall beestablished, in each Township of the State, at least one public li- 
brary. The advantages of a universal and irrevocable provision, in the 
fundamental laio, for an object like this, over any, which voluntary con- 
tribution, or local and conventional agreements in the several Town- 
ships,can furnish, are obvious : But, at the outset, an embarrassing 
difficulty presented itself, which seemed to leave but little ground for 
hope, that the measure w^ould succeed : and although a relation of the 
incidents that occurred, may seem out of place here, I hope I may be 
pardoned for alluding to them. It will be conceded that a barren en- 
actment, that such public libraries should be established; without 
indicating any means, either to procure or to sustain them, would 
have been but idle mockery : But, the state h;td no means : It was 
just then coming into existence : It had no existing fund, Avhich could 
be made available, for such a purpose : It had none, which could promise 
to be productive for a long and indefinite period ; not, probably, un- 
til after the existing population, should all " have been gathered to 
their fathers ! " It was then, that the original thought occurred to 
one of the members of the convention, himself a descendant of the 
Puritans ; to meet the obstacle, by constituting, of s\\ the sums 
assessed for the non-performance of militia service ; and of the pecu- 
niary products of all fines imposed for the violation of the penal law, 
throughout the State, and for all future time ; a fund, to be made ex- 
clusively applicable to that beneficent purpose ! Thus converting the 



ADDRESS. 2 1 

very crimes of the citizen, into a means of ameliorating the heart of the 
student; and his refusal to appear on the gaudy parade, "armed and 
equipped according to law, " into a means, " of diffusing useful 
knowledge among men ! " and so it is ordained, in the Constitution 
of Michigan. There may be something whimsical in the strange com- 
mixture of ideas, which the project implies, but it is characteristic of 
its origin ; and like all genuine " Yankee Notions, " it has much of 
the practicaUy useful in it. It saved and rendered effectual, the con- 
stitutional provision for the establishment of public libraries ; and if 
these monies be faithfully collected and paid over ; and the fund be 
administered with discretion arid fidelity, it will constitute, in a short 
period, and judging of the future by the past ; a rich and productive 
endowment. It gives me pleasure, to bear thus my individual testi- 
mony, in favor of the bold projector of this peculiar, but most useful 
improvement, upon the general plan.* (See Art. 10. Sec. 3 and 4. 
Cons, of Michigan.) 

But, dwelling no longer upon these details ; it is appropriate to re- 
mark, that the whole subject of common schools, and the diffusion of 
useful knowledge among men, seems recently to have engrossed, in a 
v«ry great degree, the public attention. Men of a high order of 
(talents among us, have made it the subject of much philosophical re- 
search, and loudly proclaimed its importance : Patriots too, who dis- 
cover in " the signs of the times" liaibingers, of evil omen; are looking 
with intense interest, to the influences, remote perhaps, but in their 
view, certain, which this system of common schools is e.xertino-. as 
their last, but sure ground of hope ; for the preservation in its purity, 
of our free and popular government. JSTor is the pride of ancient Eu- 
rope, offended at the thoughts of borrowing from the New World, a 
system which has worked so well here ! It is in full and successful 
operation, especially in the northern parts of Germany. And com- 
mon schools, and other means of " diffusing useful knowledge among 
men, " have been the topics of the most philosophical and eloquent 
disquisitions of the British press ! All this, is as it should be : But 
the wonder is, that an operative principle, so prolific of results, and of 

* Edward D. Ellis Esq, then of Monroe, was a member of the Convention, and 
when this subject was under discussion, and mi the spur of the occasion he propo- 
sed tliis method of obtaining the requisite means for establishing and maintaiuing 
the Township Libraries. 



22 ADDRESS. 

SO priceless value, should have remained so long unnoticed and un- 
known, except within the limited region of its direct and benignant 
influences ! It is no centennial plant, that bestows its product, and 
displays its splendid beauties to the sun, but once only, in a hundred 
years : It is rather some active and perennial power, and as all may 
see ; of instant, continued and uncea&ing fruitfulness f A power which, 
pervading the masses of Society, seeks indiscriminately, the recipients 
of its bounty, in the humble walks of life, and among the indigent, as 
well as the opulent ; vihich teaches, to all, alike, the great moral and 
social duties of man ! A power, Avhich sends its genial influences, in 
equal measure, to the heart, and to the understa;iding of the poor and 
of the wealthy ; and gives form and strength and expansion, to the 
moral and to the intellectual faculties, of all those, who, dn due suc- 
cession, must participate, more or less largely, in the administration of 
their common government ; ai.d into whose custod}', for the time being, 
the destinies of this beautiful country of ours, m^ist be committed ! 

And this system, so simple in its design, so beneficent in its purposes 
and in its effects ; so perfectly harmonizing with all the free institutions 
of our country, was the work, gentlemen, of our " Pu.itan " ancestors ! 
Neithe; the military schools for the magnates of the Empire of Cyrus ; 
nor the Gymnasia of ancient Gieece, nor the philosophic disquisitions 
of Locke nor of Milton ; nor even the wild dreaming of Jean Jacques 
Rousseau, could furnish its prototype. It was an original conception 
in the minds of our " Puritan " fathers : It was interwoven in the 
very texture of their Governments. It was indigenous, alone, to the 
soil of New England ! Pa: don me gentlemen, for detaining you so 
long, on a topic, so common-place — perhaps, so trite : I have sought to 
press upon your rememb'.ance, the pregnant facts I have asserted- 
lest at any time it should be forgotten, that this priceless jewel, Avas an 
emanation from the " Plymouth Rock ! " 

Col. Benton sometimes, pleasantly enough, charges his brothers Of 
the Senate, with "stealing his thunder!" But "let honor be ren- 
dered to whom honor is due ; " let no man rob from the dead! Let 
no man wrest from the brow of our ancestry, " Pui-itans " though 
they were; the honor of devising a plan, which, of itself, should have 
secured to their memory, a high place, among the most distinguished 
of the Benefactors of mankind. 



ADDRESS. 23 

It has long- ago been said of our fathers, gentlemen, not only that 
" they were a church-going people," but also, that they -were " a law 
abiding people !" Both propositions, and greatly to their honor, are 
abundantly true. No people on earth, were ever more scrupulously 
exact in conforming themselves, in all things, to the letter of the law, 
than they Avere : and none more obedient, in all things lawful, to the 
orders of those in authority ! And this for the very sound and natural 
reason, that thcij were themselves, always, the makers of the law ; and 
those in authority, derived all their powers from the same source, the 
aggregate unll of all. I have endeavojed, gentlemen, at least on this 
Occasion, to bring myself Avithin the spirit of the latter of these ad- 
mirable characteiistics. The constituted authorities of your Society, 
have signified to me, that it is their pleasiire, that I shoidd read be- 
fore you, a written address. I am a son of New England. How 
could r oppose myself, to an order, emanating from such a source ? 
I covdd not : and hence it is, that I undertook to g) oup together, such 
comments upon the history, the character and the institutions of our 
"Pilgrim Fathers," as might seem appropriate to the occasion. Es- 
pecially, it was my desire to vindicate the character and the motives 
of our ancestors : and exhibit a slight, but a symmetrical view, of 
their principal institutions, political, as well as social : to follow them 
over the broad country into which they have been transplanted, to 
trace their prospective influences upon the character and condition of 
their posterity : or, at all events to indicate — so far as I might be en- 
abled to do so ; such topics, and such a course of investigation, as 
might seem entii-ely worthy of your further and more deliberate indi- 
Tidual researches. But as I approach the labor, it increases and ex- 
pands before me ! Subjects, all worthy of careful analysis, and of the 
most earnest consideration, multiply, almost without end. And now, 
that I have barely '• penetrated through the bark " of this complica- 
ted and fruitful theme, 1 find it necessary to close : having already- 
occupied as much of your indulgent attention, as the proprieties of 
the occasion seem to permit. 

A review of these topics — especially of their canons of descent, 
their abolition of the law of primogeniture, and the consequent more 
equal distribution, among all the citizens, of the landed estate of the 
country : the poHtical s\ib-division of the state into townships ; the 



24 ADDRESS. 

establishment in each, of a government, for all local purposes, purely 
democratic, and which, as a preparatory school, fits all alike, for the 
proper perfoimance of the higher duties of government, might each 
furnish the subject of a treatise : a glance at these, and at the won- 
derful harmony which they exhibit ; and their admirable fitness for 
for the exercise, and the enjoyment of the high privileges of a free, 
well regulated and a well balanced government, must be reserved, for 
some future occasion : and probably for some more able expositor. 
Commending all these topics, gentlemen, to your future and earnest 
attention, and thanking you for your in,dulgent attention, I will no 
longer impose myself upon your exhausted patience. 



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